11 July 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

Freshwater and marine shells used as ornaments 30,000 years ago discovered in Spain

In Malaga’s Cueva de Ardales, up to 13 freshwater and marine shells that were carefully transformed by humans between 25,000 and 30,000 years ago have been discovered.

According to a study published in the environmental scientific journal Environmental Archaeology, the first Homo sapiens wore necklaces and earrings made from seashells from the Bay of Malaga.

This incredible discovery was the result of research conducted in collaboration with the Neanderthal Museum of Colonia, the University of Colonia, and the Cueva de Ardales, according to a press release from the University of Cadiz.

This archaeological enclave is now once more among the most significant in the Iberian Peninsula thanks to the discovery. When it comes to the Paleolithic era, body adornments are a subject of great interest to the scientific community.

According to the scientific article, the shells were “carefully transformed” by humans of the genus Homo sapiens into ornaments and pendants to decorate the bodies of these groups that occupied the Ardales Cave.

Photo: University of Cadiz

The symbolic value of these natural supports and the distance that human groups occasionally traveled to gather them and turn them into decorative elements represented a significant advancement in the development of cognition.

The analysis of these shells has been headed by UCA professor Juan Jesús Cantillo Duarte. “It is unusual to find this type of marine remains in caves located so far inland and with such an ancient chronology. On the Mediterranean, only a little more than a hundred remains were known, and all of them are located on the coast,” Duarte said.

“ The inhabitants of the Ardales cave, however, had to travel a distance of more than 50 km to collect the shells on the coast”, added Professor José Ramos.

Also noteworthy was: “the presence of vermetids, a kind of tube-shaped snail that is uncommon in the archaeological record”, stressed Cantillo Duarte.

The chronological framework and the association of these ornaments with the rock art and lithic remains documented inside the cave confirm their social dimension.

“The results of the excavations in the Ardales Cave suggest that it was used as a place for specialized symbolic activities during various phases of the Upper Palaeolithic,” said Pedro Cantalejo, research director of the Ardales Cave, for whom the cave still has much to tell.

University of Cadiz

Related Articles

Ancient rituals recorded on 2,000-year-old bamboo slips deciphered

18 December 2023

18 December 2023

Scholars of China’s Tsinghua University have deciphered five documents recorded on bamboo slips dating back to the Warring States period...

Ancient Tamil Nadu’s Metalworking Legacy Traced Back to 3300 BCE

7 February 2025

7 February 2025

Recent archaeological research has uncovered compelling evidence that Tamil Nadu’s metalworking traditions date back to at least 3300 BCE, highlighting...

Statue of Roman Emperor Hadrianus found in western Turkey

14 September 2021

14 September 2021

Excavations in the ancient city of Alabanda in the western province of Aydin have uncovered pieces of the statue of...

Archeologists find a 3,500-year-old mosaic in central Turkey

16 September 2021

16 September 2021

Archaeologists have discovered a 3,500-year-old mosaic in central Turkey, which might be one of the world’s oldest. The impressive power...

Rare biblical ‘balsam tree’ found depicted on ancient Jerusalem amethyst seal

21 October 2021

21 October 2021

Archaeologists working in the Old City of Jerusalem have discovered an engraved amethyst seal in the Second Temple, thought to...

Colossae Ancient City Excavation Works Begin

8 September 2021

8 September 2021

Excavations of the ancient city of Colossae, located in the Honaz district of Denizli province in western Turkey, are starting...

Early Iron Age cremation burial containing bronze jewelry and rare textile fragments found in Austria

9 July 2023

9 July 2023

Archeologists from the Vienna Natural History Museum (NHM), a cremation burial containing bronze jewelry and rare surviving textile fragments have...

A Fig Dating Back Over 2,000 Years has been Discovered in North Dublin – A First of Its Kind for Ireland

28 November 2024

28 November 2024

The discovery of a fig dating back 2,000 years during an archaeological excavation of Drumanagh in north Dublin, has been...

Ancient DNA Reveals Surprising Maternal Lineages at Neolithic Çatalhöyük

28 June 2025

28 June 2025

New research, utilizing ancient DNA analysis, is challenging long-held assumptions about kinship and societal structures in one of the world’s...

Archaeologists in eastern Newfoundland unearth the oldest English coin ever found in Canada

14 November 2021

14 November 2021

Archaeologists in eastern Newfoundland have unearthed a rare two-penny piece minted between 1493 and 1499 more than 520 years ago....

Spanish Water Worker discovered 2,500-Year-Old two Gold Necklaces

14 September 2023

14 September 2023

A worker at a local water company in Spain discovered two gold necklaces thought to date back 2,500 years. Sergio...

Funerary urn depicting Maya corn god uncovered during Maya Train work

10 January 2024

10 January 2024

Archaeologists from the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) conducting salvage work along section 7 of the Maya Train...

A rural necropolis from Late Antiquity discovered in northeastern France

5 November 2022

5 November 2022

Inrap archaeologists have unearthed a small rural necropolis from the late 5th century (Late Antiquity) at Sainte-Marie-aux-Chênes in northeastern France....

Egypt discovers five 4,000-year-old ancient tombs in Saqqara necropolis

19 March 2022

19 March 2022

The Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities announced recently the discovery of five 4,000-year-old ancient tombs in the Saqqara archaeological...

In French Necropolis 21 Roman “curse tablets” discovered including one written in the extinct Celtic language of Gaulish

18 January 2025

18 January 2025

During the excavation of an eighteenth-century hospital in north-western France by researchers from the Orléans Archaeological Service, a 2,000-year-old necropolis...